Disclosed is a sole-type body member, which is a main body of a shoe sole or an insole, is laminated on the sheet-type coated cork, and is then pressed and heated so that a part of the sole-type body member is inserted into the main-body-coupling opening, thereby achieving coupling therebetween.

The present invention relates to a polymeric foam, and a process for making the polymeric foam comprising the steps of a) providing a monomeric solution consisting of a polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated monomer containing one or more acid groups, water and one or more crosslinkers having more than one polymerizable group per molecule; b) introducing a blowing agent to the monomer solution; c) treating the monomer solution with an ultrasonic treatment; d) introducing one or more initiation agents to the monomer solution; and e) polymerizing the monomer solution.

The present invention relates to a sole for a shoe, in particular a running shoe. The shoe comprises a sole component and at least one loose particle(s) contained within the sole component. The loose particles provide haptic feedback to a user of the sole during an athletic activity.

Components for articles of footwear and athletic equipment are provided including a foam. A variety of foams and foam components are provided. The articles include a composition having a foam structure, wherein the composition includes an ionomeric polymer and a plurality of cations, wherein the ionomeric copolymer is crosslinked by the cations. The crosslinks are ionic, so in some aspects the composition is free or essentially free of any covalent crosslinks between the ionomers. In particular, midsoles including the foams are provided for use in an article of footwear. Methods of making the compositions and foams are provided, as well as methods of making an article of footwear including one of the foam components. In some aspects, the foams and foam components can be made by injection molding or injection molding followed by compression molding.

A structure in which complexity of the moving path of the nozzle during forming is suppressed even if the structure has regions with different elasticity and a manufacturing method for a structure that can suppress complexity of the moving path of the nozzle when forming the structure with regions with different elasticity. The structure includes a formed body with a linear structure formed of a linear resin. The formed body includes first and second elastic regions, and the linear resin forming the first elastic region is thinner than the linear resin forming the second elastic region.

A foot presence sensor system for an active article of footwear can include a sensor housing configured to be disposed at or in an insole of the article, and a controller circuit, disposed within the sensor housing, configured to trigger one or more automated functions of the footwear based on a foot presence indication. In an example, the sensor system includes a capacitive sensor, and the sensor is configured to sense changes in a foot proximity to the sensor in footwear. Information about the sensed proximity can be used to determine a foot velocity characteristic, which in turn can be used to update an automated footwear function, such as an automatic lacing function, or can be used to determine a step count, foot strike force, a rate of travel, or other information about a foot, about an activity, or about the footwear.

A process of making a family cell of homogenous inner bladders with varying elasticity includes a forming a plurality of inner bladders from a first material with a first elasticity. The inner bladders have interior surfaces during inner chambers and exterior surfaces exposed to an outside environment. The inner chambers are configured to store a fluid. A family cell is formed by fluidly connecting the inner bladders. One or more hybrid bladders are selected from the inner bladders and a second material having a second elasticity is applied to the hybrid bladders. The second elasticity is less than the first elasticity, such that the second material reduces the elastic qualities of the hybrid bladder.

Described herein is a method for producing a PU foam insole, including the following steps of: (1) pouring the raw materials used to form a PU foam into a mould, reacting to obtain a PU sheet, where the height of the mould cavity is from about 1.0 to about 1.6 times of the total thickness of two finished insoles; (2) splitting the PU sheet into two halves in the horizontal direction to obtain two pieces of PU insole material, where one surface of the material has open pores, and the other surface of the material has a skin; and (3) attaching a piece of fabric onto the surface having open pores of the material obtained in step (2). Also described herein is a PU foam insole produced by the method.

A sole board for an article of footwear includes a plate that has a forefoot region, a midfoot region, and a heel region. The sole board includes a channel disposed in a top surface of the plate in the forefoot region. The channel extends from a lateral edge of the plate to a medial edge of the plate. A characteristic of the channel at the lateral and medial edges of the plate is different than the characteristic of the channel at a middle of the channel.

An assembly-type insole of the present invention is a shoe insole arranged on an inner bottom surface of a shoe so as to protect the sole of a wearer's foot, the insole comprising: a heel bottom-support configured to support a bottom part of the heel of the wearer's foot; a heel bottom support plate configured to allow the heel bottom support to be attached thereto; an inner arch support configured to support the inner arch part of the wearer's foot sole; an arch inside-support plate positioned inwardly from the longitudinal center of the arch of the foot sole to allow the inner arch support attached thereto; an outer arch support configured to support the outer arch part of the foot sole; an outer arch support plate positioned outwardly from the longitudinal center of the arch of the foot sole to allow the outer arch support attached thereto; an insole base configured to support the arch of the sole and the sole positioned at the front of the arch; and a support plate engagement member configured to allow the heel bottom support plate, the inner arch support plate, and the outer arch support plate to be engaged thereto.